Oncologic children undergoing radiotherapy: Ways to alleviate the psychological burden: A review

Abstract

Background: Radiation therapy is stressful for both the patient and family. After a child's cancer diagnosis, parents face the burden of dealing with fear, their children's needs and the unfamiliarity of radiotherapy procedure. Introduction: This paper aims to present methods to alleviate the total psychological stress those children and parents feel during the radiation course. Methods: A literature search was performed until January 2020. Result: Previous publications suggest a multidisciplinary proactive approach involving health pro-fessionals, patient, family, and extended family to lessen the stress associated with radiation thera-py. A well-trained, specialist, healthcare radiotherapy-pediatric staff can help, educate and commu-nicate effectively with the family. Maintaining the same health staff during radiotherapy creates in-timacy and reduces anxiety. All necessary age-appropriate information as well as a list available with the most important things about the care-giving should be clearly written and easily accessi-ble. An information exchange system among all the health specialists involved must be developed. Friendly and playful specialists are crucial in familiarizing the child with the computed tomogra-phy (CT) machines and radiotherapy process. A tablet with an educating application or machine models installed in the waiting area can be useful. Creative arts therapy may be a positive interven-tion. Maintaining a normal routine is vital for the psychological well-being of parents and children. A social worker may assist in regaining a good mental state. Conclusion: With ongoing age-appropriate information and psychological support throughout the whole radiation period, both parents and children will be more optimistic, strong and encouraged to fight for the child’s and family’s well-being. © 2021 Bentham Science Publishers.